Bumbling Bucs blame game now shifts to Schiano

September 29, 2013|George Diaz, COMMENTARY

TAMPA — This is what the NFL abyss looks like: Dark, deep despair and a plunging freefall into irrelevance.

Meet your Tampa Bay Bucs, who in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month should channel the spirit of Ponce de Leon in search of a game plan that doesn't explode like a box of Groucho Marx cigars in the fourth quarter.

It's hard to get those pom-poms waving when your team is 0-4 and has an incredible knack of blowing games instead of closing them.

The Bucs lost their third game in the last two minutes on Sunday despite taking a 10-0 lead into the fourth quarter against the Arizona Cardinals. They seemed headed to a nondescript yet efficient victory under rookie starting quarterback Mike Glennon.

But after giving Glennon a very cozy game plan — crisp short passes, nothing too complicated for a kid making his first NFL start — the coaching staff gave him too much leeway. Leading 10-3 and facing a second-and-6 from the Tampa Bay 13 with under four minutes left, the Bucs called a short pass over the middle. Cornerback Patrick Peterson picked it off, and one play later Carson Palmer threw a TD pass to Larry Fitzgerald, who put a triple move on Darrelle Revis, for the 10-10 tie.

And so the implosion continued. The Bucs went three-and-out, punted from the 1-yard line and then sealed the deal with an unnecessary-roughness penalty on safety Dashon Goldson, a multiple offender who now likely is facing a one-game suspension.

Jay Feely's 27-yard field goal with 1:33 left in the game was too much to overcome for a rookie quarterback, especially with no timeouts, and the Cardinals won 13-10.

The great news here is that next week's opponent is listed as "OPEN," which will give the Bucs' front office staff a nice window of opportunity for more reflective housecleaning. They already bounced the quarterback. Is coach Greg Schiano next?

The smart money says probably not. The Glazer family isn't the impulsive type, but Schiano has lost 9 of his last 10 games, dating to last season, and his voice in the locker room is losing influence.

One relationship that's already unraveled is the one between Schiano and former starter Josh Freeman, who was benched last Wednesday and then listed as inactive for Sunday's game, in part perhaps as a slapdown to an unauthorized interview he gave to ESPN in which he said he wanted to be traded.

Freeman wasn't nearly as chatty late Sunday afternoon. He was the guy scrambling away from reporters minutes after the game, going from the Bucs locker room to outside Raymond James Stadium. Freeman had a brisk gait, headphones in his ear and not much to say.

He obviously wants to get away, much like the rest of his teammates. Cue the Southwest Airlines commercial.

Freeman wasn't even on the sidelines, apparently told to watch the game from a suite and not bother coming down to the field. "Mutual decision," Schiano said after the game, two words that no one believed.

"I'm not commenting at this point," Freeman said.

You can't blame Freeman and Schiano for wanting to put on the blindfolds and focus forward, even if no one knows where exactly this is going. Freeman could get his wish and be traded this week.

Those left behind will need to sort it out, but it's not as if the bye week will allow the Bucs to bide some time and find a fabulous panacea to salvage what is shaping up to be a miserable season.

"We can't turn on each other," defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said. "It's time like these when teams start to crumble because internally they start to implode. [We] can't do that."

A lot of fans have already turned and run away. The paid attendance was 44,956, although there were a lot of folks who didn't use those tickets.

Who wants to sign up for heartbreak?

Unfortunately, the Tampa Bay Bucs have no choice but to show up. There are 12 games left in the season, and plenty of good seats available.

Maybe you can even snag a seat next to the former starting quarterback.